The United States nearly doubled the rate of air
attacks on Iraq in 2002..
[On Wednesday, U.S. Central Command reported an air strike on an Iraqi
air defense radar. The command said the target was located at Al Qurnah,
about 200 kilometers southeast of Baghdad.]
U.S. officials said that British and U.S. warplanes attacked Iraqi air
defense air assets in northern and southern Iraq at a rate nearly double
that in 2001. They said allied forces attacked Iraqi installations 78 times
in 2002.
In 2001, the coalition struck northern and southern Iraq 43 times. The
number of attacks was 80 in 2000.
The U.S. military reported that the latest air attack on Iraq for 2002
took place on Monday. The Defense Department said British and U.S. warplanes
bombed Iraq air defense facilities after an Iraqi fighter-jet penetrated the
southern no-fly zone near the Kuwaiti border.
Monday's attack included the use of precision bombs, officials said.
They said the attack followed an unauthorized flight of an Iraqi MiG-25 jet
about 200 kilometers within the southern no-fly zone. It was the second
flight by an MiG-25 in a week.
In response, allied warplanes struck the Iraqi air defense network near
Basra. The attacks included bombing of cable repeaters and a mobile radar
unit.
